The iPhone 4S Costs 30p More to Build than the iPhone 4

The fellows at iSuppli have done what they do best, breaking down the material nitty gritty of the 4S to find how much its guts are worth. The answer? Slightly, slightly more than its predecessor, at $188 (£119).

That $188 figure is for the 16 GB model—the 32GB costs Apple $207 (£131), and the 64GB is $245 (£155). Tacked on to each price tag is an $8 (£15) "manufacturing cost," which accounts for the expense of renting out some humans from Foxconn for the day.

It's pretty remarkable that a phone with a significantly faster processor and substantially beefier camera costs only a hair more than the old model—but that's just a testament to Apple's engineering efficiency, explains iSuppli: the 4S crams more radio tech into the same footprint, saving space, and the cost of requiring multiple components. One place Apple isn't saving money is that fancy screen of theirs—the most expensive component at $37 (£23.50) total. Keep that in mind when you get the repair bill after cracking yours. [iSuppli via 9to5Mac]